Deodorizer integral with toilet seat



Aug. i, w67 F. E. NULL 3,333,285

DEODORIZER INTEGRAL WITH TOILET SEAT Filed March 26, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug, T, T967 F. E. NULL. i 3,333,285

DEODORIZER INTEGRAL WITH TOILET SEAT Filed March 26, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 S5 l 15532 v United States Patent C) 3,333,285 i DEODORIZER INTEGRAL WITH TOILET SEAT Fay Edison Null, Choctawmar Subdivision, Gkaloosa County, Fla. (Box 158, Shalimar, Fla. 32579) Filed Mar. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 355,050 8 Claims. (Cl. 4-217) This invention relates to a filter deodorizer integral with the toilet seat, insuring uniform exhaust of the air inside the bowl into a peripheral charcoal filter in said seat, and with a seat hinge having a hollow axle ducting to an electric motor driven blower with exhaust below the water tank.

Heretofore, bathrooms have often been deodorized by complete change of the air in the room. This does not de-odorize the air passing the user, from the bowl source to the Ventilating outlet. The present invention provides for a uniform intake of air from the inner periphery of the bowl top, said intake air having the same pressure drop across a Acarbon filter integral to the toilet seat, and said pressure drop being high relative to the remaining pressure drop across the duct to the exhaust fan, so that air inside the bowl is exhausted uniformly around said seat periphery.

In the present invention a baie inlet system is formed by the combination of the seat and bowl top rim for protection from splash, and such that on raising the seat with separation of bowl and seat surfaces, any spattered surface is exposed for cleaning. A special spatter plate is added to the seat bottom to protect the filter intake from spatter when the seat is in the raised position. This spatter plate is readily swung back to permit cleaning of the filter intake duct, on the rare occasions this may be required.

It is therefore, among the objects of the present invention to provide for a uniform exhaust of the air from inside the toilet bowl through a purifying filter; any transfer of air between the bowl and room being from the room into the bowl, so that odors are effectively removed at the source without contamination of the room air.

Another object of the present invention is coaction between the inside bowl rim and the seat adjacent surface to form a protective baffle against contamination of the filter intake by spatter, the baffle passages to the filter inlet, and the affected parts of both bowl and seat being fully exposed for cleaning when said seat is raised.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a spatter plate to protect the filter entrance when the seat is in the raised position, and which may be readily swung back for cleaning on the rare occasions such cleaning is needed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a charcoal filter integral to the seat and with a peripheral intake that exhausts uniform volumes of air from around the howl periphery, as made possible by having a pressure drop across the filter much larger than the pressure drop across the varying How lengths from the filter periphery to the seat exhaust duct.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a neat, stream-lined exhaust duct from the seat hinge, hollow axle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the deodorzation function of bathroom ventilation, as supplemented for water vapor removal by window ventilation, room exhaust fans, or air conditioning ducts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a charcoal filter holder that can be readily removed for refilling.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat and exhaust system that can be readily attached to a standard toilet type.

3,333,285 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 Objects and advantages other than those set forth, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description when used in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of the deodorizing system showing the seat in its horizontal position with hinged spatter plate halves on the underneath side, andthe combination hinge and hollow axle duct which discharges to the electric motor driven fan under the water tank.

FIG. 2 is a profile view of the same system components as in FIG. l.

FIG. 3a is a plan View of the bowl land raised seat with the spatter plate halves closed and held by a ush screw at the top.

FIG. 3b is an elevation view of the raised seat with the hinged, spatter plate halves closed and secured by a flush screw at the top. An inner bafiie rim'on the seat bottom protrudes from under the spatter plate.

FIG. 3c is an elevation view of the raised seat with the spatter plate halves swung back and the filter bafiie, inlet surfaces exposed for easy cleaning.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-section of the seat and bowl rim al-ong line 44 in FIG. 1, and also shows the crosssection along line 4-4 FIG. 3b if the bowl is removed from FIG. 4. It illustrates the formation of the entrance baie from the seat and bowl rim surfaces, shows the function of the spatter plate in forming part of the baffle system when closed but allowing ready cleaning of baie passages when open, shows the readily replaceable charcoal filter insert, and illustrates the fiow of air in the seat interior ducting, which leads from the baffles to the lter, and from the filter to a large, peripheral duct which is connected to the hollow hinge Iaxle of FIG; 5.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-Section of the seat, bowl rim and hollow discharge axle along line 5`5 in FIG. 1. It has the same peripheral features as FIG. 4, but in addition shows the passage between the large peripheral duct of FIG. 4 and the hollow axle of the seat hinge whose inner, cylindrical surface has openings for passage of the air into an exhaust tube attached to the rear end of said hinge axle which leads to the fan intake. Either the front or rear end of the hollow hinge axle can. be exhausted by a fan, whichever is most convenient, the other end being capped. In FIG. 5 the rear end of the hinge axle is ducted to the exhaust fan, and in FIGS. l and 2 the fan exhausts from the front end of said hinge axle.

Referring more particularly to the drawings` by characters of reference, reference numeral 1, FIGS. 1 and 2, indicates the toilet seat resting on the bowl 2 with the spatter plate halves 3 and 4, hinged at 5 and 6 and separating said bowl and said seat. Extension 7 of the seat 1 connects to outer cylinder 8 of the hinge 9, said outer cylinder 8 rotating about concentric, smaller diameter cylinder 10 which is attached to ledge 1li by rings 12 and bolts 13. Attached to said outer cylinder 8 are the end seal pieces 14 that make an lapproximately air tight sliding contact 15, see FIG. 5, with inner cylinder 10. The lubrication of the sliding surfaces can be obtained in a variety of ways, as by use of different materials, application of lubricant in assembly, or with one material having a lubricant filled, sintered structure, FIG. 5 is a cross-section along line 5-5, FIG. 1. It shows the peripheral passage 16 in the top of seat 1 that is exhausted through duct 17 into the angular space 18 between outer cylinder 8 and inner cylinder 10. Cylinder 10 has holes 19 to conduct the air to its interior 20 and into rear end tube 21 which in FIG. 5 leads to an exhaust fan on the rear side of stool 22, FIG. 2. For convenience the exhaust fan can be attached to either the rear or front ends of cylinder 10. In FIGS. l and 2 the rear end of cylinder 10 is shown closed by cap 21, and the front end of cylinder is exhausted through 'duct 23 to fan 24 as driven by electric motor 25, said fan and motor being secured by supports 26 and 27 from frame 28 held by bolt 29 which normally holds water tank 30 on rear stool ledge 31.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section through line 4-4, FIG. 1. The seat 1 rests on bowl rim 2a. The filter 32 has inlet openings 33, to charcoal filling 34, and exit openings 35 that lead to peripheral passage 16 and to duct 17, FIG. 5. The friction lid 36 holds charcoal 34 in position, and base plate 37, to which the filter 32 may be cemented, is held in seat 1 by screws 38. Spatter plate 3 is hinged at 5 and lies between seat 1 and bowl rim 2a. The support wall 40 has passages 41 to conduct air from the inner bafiie passage 42 to filter 32. The outer bafiie passage 43 is formed by, the seat surfaces 44 and 45 with the surface 46 of the bowl rim 2a, and the surface 47 of the tip of the spatter plate 3, which trap any spattered material when the seat 1 is in the horizontal position on the bowl 2. When the seat 1 is raised as in FIG. 3a the surface 46 of the bowl rim 2a is exposed for cleaning and the seat surfaces 44 and 45 and the surface 47 of the tip of the spatter plate 3 are also available for cleaning. The screw 48 holds the spatter plate halves 3 and 4 in the closed position. The inner bafiie passage 42, FIG. 4, is composed of the interior surfaces 49 and 50 of seat 1, and the top of the tip surface 51 of spatter plate half 3, and prevents spatter of support wall 40 when the seat is in the vertical position as in FIG. 3b where 52 is the greatest inward projection of the seat 1 and 53 is the trace of the reentrant edge of said seat 1, the lowest portion of said seat in the closed position. In FIG. 3b the cross-sectional view from line 4 4 is given by FIG. 4 if the bowl 2 in FIG. 4 is removed. It is noted that the inner bafiie passage 42 adequately protects the support wall 40 from spatter, but that the surfaces 49, 50, and 51 may occa sionally require cleaning. FIG. 3c of the raised seat 1, shows screw hole 48a where screw 43 was removed to permit spatter plate halves 3 and 4 to be swung back exposing the tip surface 51 of said spatter plate halves for easy cleaning, and also making inner surfaces 49 and 50 of said inner baffle passage readily available for cleaning.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a deodorizing device, the combination of a toilet seat and bowl, comprising a hollow seat member having a passage therein, a hinged, hollow discharge axle having passage means therein connected to said seat passage, an exhaust tube connected between said passage means and a discharged fan, peripheral intake ducts in said seat passage and outer intake bafiie passages in said intake ducts defined by the inner rim of said toilet bowl and the inner surface of said seat whereby the surfaces of the bafe passages are exposed for cleaning when said seat is raised and a spatter plate defined by two semi-circular halves hingedly attached to the opposite side portions -of said seat and serving to separate the bowl from said seat, inner intake bafiie passages comprised of the tip portion of said spatter plate and the inner surface of said seat whereby the bafiie passages in said intake ducts of said seat is protected from spatter contamination when the seat is in the vertical position.

2. The structure of `claim 1 wherein a filter is positioned within the seat passage to insure substantially equal intake pressure drop across said intake ducts and discharge ducts from said filter with a low pressure drop relative to the high pressure drop across said filter, to insure uniform removal of air from the interior periphery of said bowl.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein a seal is interposed between the top of said bowl and the bottom of said seat to prevent exterior air from fiowing under said seat and directly to said intake ducts.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein a seal is interposed between the top of said bowl and the bottom of said seat to prevent exterior air from flowing under said seat and directly into said intake ducts.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the semi-circular halves of said spatter plate are threadedly held in operative position.

6. The structure of claim 2 wherein the filter has inlet openings and exit openings whereby the air must proceed therethrough before entering said seat passage.

7. The structure of claim 2 wherein the filter is held in position with a friction lid.

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein the hinged, hollow discharge axle comprises an outer cylinder, an inner concentric cylinder and end seal so as to provide an air tight sliding contact between said cylinders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 771,254 10/ 1904 Kendrick 4-217 1,221,340 4/1917 Lewers 4-229 1,767,930 6/1930 Kahl 4--217 1,794,635 3/1931 Mills 4-217 1,972,076 9/1934 Cross 4-217 2,728,088 12/1955 Gudish 4-217 2,970,322 2/ 1961 Vause 4-229 3,003,157 10/1961 Belcher 4-217 3,230,551 l/1966 Kopp 4-230 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DEODORIZING DEVICE, THE COMBINATION OF A TOILET SEAT AND BOWL, COMPRISING A HOLLOW SEAT MEMBER HAVING A PASSAGE THEREIN, A HINGED, HOLLOW DISCHARGE AXLE HAVING PASSAGE MEANS THEREIN CONNECTED TO SAID SEAT PASSAGE, AN EXHAUST TUBE CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID PASSAGE MEANS AND A DISCHARGED FAN, PERIPHERAL INTAKE DUCTS IN SAID SEAT PASSAGE AND OUTER INTAKE BAFFLE PASSAGES IN SAID INTAKE DUCTS DEFINED BY THE INNER RIM OF SAID TOILET BOWL AND THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID SEAT WHEREBY THE SURFACES OF THE BAFFLE PASSAGES ARE EXPOSED FOR CLEANING WHEN SAID SEAT IS RAISED AND A SPATTER PLATE DEFINED BY TWO SEMI-CIRCULAR HALVES HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE PORTIONS OF SAID SEAT AND SERVING TO SEPARATE THE BOWL FROM SAID SEAT, INNER INTAKE BAFFLE PASSAGES COMPRISED OF THE TIP PORTION OF SAID SPATTER PLATE AND THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID SEAT WHEREBY THE BAFFLE PASSAGES IN SAID INTAKE DUCTS OF SAID SEAT IS PROTECTED FROM SPATTER CONTAMINATION WHEN THE SEAT IS IN THE VERTICAL POSITION. 